New guideline published on advertisements and commercial practices

Introduction
Main principles
Advertisements with price information
Discounted sales advertisements

Introduction

The Advertisement Board, which operates under the Ministry of Trade, recently conducted examinations and inspections on deceptive and misleading price and discount advertisements. From these examinations and inspections, it transpired that there was a need for an arrangement to offer guidance on the right and wrong practices in the sector.

Based on the Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 and the Regulation on Commercial Advertisements and Unfair Commercial Practices, the Guideline on Advertisements and Commercial Practices with Price Information and Discounted Sales was published. This guideline includes explanations regarding advertisements containing price information and the requirements of discount sales advertisements and provides examples of the best practice.

This guideline is useful to:

• advertisers;
• advertising agencies;
• media organisations;
• sellers;
• providers;
• intermediary service providers; and
• all persons, institutions and organisations related to advertising.

The guideline is divided into three sections:

• main principles;
• advertisements with price information; and
• discounted sale advertisements.

Main principles

The guideline's regulations regarding basic principles are as follows:

• In cases where the consumer must pay to acquire goods, definitions such as "without charge", "free of charge" or "costless" should not be made in relation to those goods. In addition, all the fees that the consumer must pay should be shown together with the price.
• Without the explicit consent of the consumer, the options that incur an additional payment obligation should not be presented as already selected, and the consumer should make a choice in that regard.
• Expressions such as "net", "all" or "everything" can be used if the price or discount is valid for all or certain categories of goods and services.
• If different discounts are applied for different goods and services, the relevant price and the categories of goods and services to which the relevant price and discount apply should be clearly stated in a way that the consumer can easily understand (eg, "winter season products").
• Phrases such as "up to", "from" or "until" should be written in a legible size in advertisements related to discount sales campaigns. In addition, the scope of goods subject to discounts advertisements that contain these phrases should meet the reasonable expectation of the consumer.
• Goods or services should not be advertised at the offered price without any warning to the consumer about how these goods or services cannot be offered at the specified price in a reasonable time and amount or be supplied from another place.
• It cannot be falsly stated that goods or services will be offered for a very limited period and only under certain conditions so as to prevent the consumer from taking the opportunity or time to make a decision or conscious choice.
• The guideline also states to pay attention to sensitive consumer groups, such as the elderly, the handicapped and children in discount sales advertisements and commercial applications, especially in advertisements for children. In particular:
  • expressions such as "only" or "just" should not be used next to the price information in a way that creates the perception that the price of the goods or services is low;
  • children should not be directly encouraged to persuade their parents or others to acquire a good or service; and
  • expressions that imply children must sign contracts to acquire goods or services.

Advertisements with price information

The regulations regarding advertisements containing price information are as follows:

• The price offered to the consumers should be the total sales price of the goods or services, including all taxes stated in the advertisements.
• In case a fee cannot be calculated according to the characteristics of the consumer or the relevant legislation, it should be clearly stated that these elements are not included in the price, and the calculation method of these elements should be explained.
• Sales prices in advertisements will be in the form of Turkish lira, excluding advertisements for package tours and training services that are expected to be performed abroad, and for transportation and accommodation services abroad.
• In cases where the price of the good or service depends on another good or service, the conditions that must be met for consumers to benefit from the price in the advertisement should be clearly stated.
• If the advertisement contains the instalment amount, the total price and the number of instalments should be clearly stated along with the instalment amount.
• In cases where advertisements promise that goods or services will be given to consumers free of charge, the obligations that the consumers must fulfil in relation to this should be clearly stated in the advertisement.
• If the price is valid depending on a time or stock limit, this period and stock amount should be clearly stated in the advertisements.
• In cases where a personalised price is offered to the consumer, the information regarding the current sales price and personalised price determined by the seller or provider for those goods or services should be included in the same field.

Discounted sales advertisements

The regulations regarding discount sales advertisements are as follows:

• Advertisement that show a discount on goods or services must clearly and comprehensively state:
  • the price before the discount;
  • the start and end dates of the discount sale; and
  • whether the quantity of the goods or services offered at a discount is limited.
• The advertisement must not include expressions or images that may cause confusion or mislead consumers about which goods or services will be subject to the discounted sale price or how much discount will be applied to these goods or services.
• The sales price of goods or services before the discount must be based on the lowest price within the 30 days before the discount date. However, the advertisements for perishable products will be determined based on the previous price before the discounted price, not the lowest price within the 30 days. Otherwise, for general price reduction announcements, there is no requirement to specify the price before the discount.
• When the same seller offers goods or services for sale through different extensions on the same e-commerce platform, different discount rates and amounts will cause confusion to the consumer and will therefore go against the guideline.

In addition, the guideline regulates the responsibility for advertisers in relation to:

• price displays;
• discount sales announcements;
• stock notifications; and
• commercial practices published in any media.

Further, an obligation arises for the intermediary service providers to inform the sellers and suppliers of their activity to sell through the system that they have created.

For further information on this topic please contact Hatice Ekici Tağa, Bensu Özdemir or Öykü Su Sabancı at Özdağıstanli Ekici Attorney Partnership by telephone (+90 216 230 07 48) or email ([email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]). The Özdağıstanli Ekici Attorney Partnership website can be accessed at www.ozdagistanliekici.com.